Temporary placement device able to adjust orientation of workpiece

ABSTRACT

A temporary placement device comprises a carrying member having a carrying surface on which a workpiece is placed and a drive device driving the carrying member. The carrying member is formed to be deformable. The drive device includes a connecting member connected to a center part of the carrying member and moving in an up-down direction. The drive device moves the connecting member between a top end position where the carrying surface of the carrying member becomes flat and a bottom end position where the carrying surface becomes recessed downward.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a temporary placement device of aworkpiece.

2. Description of the Related. Art

Known in the past has been a conveyor system for conveying a workpiecewhich uses a robot to convey the workpiece. Workpieces are sometimesarranged at a pallet or container in irregular postures or orientations.The work of conveying workpieces includes the work of aligning aworkpiece bulk stacked on a pallet etc. at a predetermined position. Itis also known to use a robot for the work of aligning the workpieces.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 2012-245602A discloses a part feedsystem able to align parts arranged in a bulk stacked state. This partfeed system is disclosed as being provided with a means for arrangingbulk stacked parts at predetermined postures and a temporary placementtable at which parts are set for recognizing allocated parts. Further,this publication discloses recognizing the position and posture of apart placed on the temporary placement table by a 2D vision sensor andusing the results of recognition by the 2D vision sensor as the basis toarrange the part on the temporary placement table by a robot.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

When gripping workpieces bulk stacked on a pallet etc by a robot, thepostures of the workpieces are uneven. For this reason, when using anend effector of a robot to grip a workpiece, the orientation of theworkpiece sometimes does not become the desired orientation. That is,when using an end effector to grip a workpiece, the posture of theworkpiece sometimes does not become constant. For example, when grippinga workpiece having a longitudinal direction, the longitudinal directionof the workpiece sometimes becomes parallel to the horizontal directionand sometimes become parallel to the vertical direction. Alternatively,the workpiece sometimes is gripped in a state slanted in longitudinaldirection.

There is the work of aligning the orientation of the workpiece at thetime of placement on the work table etc. so as to orient a workpiecepicked up from a pallet in a predetermined direction. When aligning theorientation of a workpiece, it is necessary to adjust the orientation ofthe gripped workpiece. For example, when an end effector grips aworkpiece with its longitudinal direction parallel to the verticaldirection, the posture of the workpiece is sometimes changed so that thelongitudinal direction of the workpiece is oriented in the horizontaldirection and a predetermined direction.

The above Japanese Patent Publication No. 2012-245602A discloses toprovide a temporary placement table and recognize the position andposture of a part by a plan view. Further, it discloses to apply shakingor other external force when it is hard to determine a part placed onthe temporary placement table. This publication discloses to change theposition and posture of a part by contact with a robot or by blowingcompressed air etc., but does not disclose the specific structure of thedevice.

The temporary placement device of the present invention is a temporaryplacement device arranged at a workpiece feed system aligning workpiecesusing a robot and imaging device, comprising a carrying member having acarrying surface on which a workpiece is placed and a drive devicearranged at an opposite side to the carrying surface and driving thecarrying member. The carrying member is formed to be able to bedeformed. The drive device includes a moving part being connected to acenter part of the carrying member and moving in an up-down direction.The drive device moves a moving part between a top end position wherethe carrying surface of the carrying member becomes flat and a bottomend position where the carrying surface becomes a state recesseddownward.

In the above invention, the drive device can include an air cylindermoving the moving part.

In the above invention, the drive device includes a servo motor movingthe moving part.

In the above invention, the carrying member is configured by asheet-shaped elastic member.

In the above invention, the carrying member is made of a fluororubber.

In the above invention, the carrying member includes two plate-shapemembers, the two plate-shape members are connected by a hinge so thatthe end parts face each other, and, when the moving part is arranged atthe bottom end position, the carrying member is bent so that thecross-sectional shape along the direction where the two plate-shapedmembers are arranged becomes a V-shape.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a workpiece feed system in anembodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a workplace feed system in an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a first temporary placement device in anembodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a first temporaryplacement device when the center part of the carrying member isrecessed.

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a first temporaryplacement device when the carrying surface of the carrying member isflat.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of control of a workplace feed system in anembodiment.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a second temporary placement device inan embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a second temporaryplacement device when the center part of the carrying member isrecessed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1 to FIG. 8, a temporary placement device in anembodiment will be explained. The temporary placement device of thepresent embodiment adjusts the orientation of a predetermined product orother workpiece. The temporary placement device of the presentembodiment is used for a workpiece feed system aligning workpieces bulkstacked on a pallet, container, or other conveyor member.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a workpiece feed system of the presentembodiment. The workpiece feed system 10 is provided with a first robot1 and a second robot 2. The first robot 1 and the second robot 2 in thepresent embodiment are multi-articulated type robots.

At an arm 11 of the first robot 1, an end effector comprised of a magnetholder 3 is attached. The workpiece 90 of the present embodiment isformed by a magnetic member. The magnet holder 3 includes anelectromagnet. If the electromagnet is energized, the magnet holder 3can grip the workpiece 90 by magnetism. Further, the magnet holder 3 canrelease the workpiece 90 by the supply of current to the electromagnetbeing stopped.

At an arm 12 of the second robot 2, an end effector comprised of a hand4 is attached. The hand 4 of the present embodiment includes a pluralityof claws. The hand 4 can grip a workpiece 90 by the claws closing.Further, the hand 4 can release the workpiece 90 by the claws opening.

Note that, the end effector attached to the first robot 1 and the endeffector attached to the second robot 2 may be any devices able to gripand release a workpiece 90.

The pallet of the conveyor member for conveying workpieces 90 has aplurality of workpieces 90 bulk stacked on it. That is, a plurality ofworkpieces 90 are stacked on the pallet 91 in a state where thepositions and postures of the workpieces 90 are irregular. Theworkpieces 90 of the present embodiment has a longitudinal direction.The workpieces 90 of the present embodiment have rectangularparallelepiped shapes, but it is possible to employ any shapes ofworkpieces. Further, in the present embodiment, all of the workpieces 90are the same shape, but the invention is not limited to this. Aplurality of types of workpiece may also be mixed together.

The workpiece feed system 10 performs the work of restacking workpieces90 so that the orientations of the workpieces 90 become constant. Thefirst robot 1 conveys a workpiece 90 stacked on the pallet 91 to thetemporary placement device 21 as shown by the arrow 101. Further, thetemporary placement device 21 adjusts the posture of the workpiece 90.After this, the second robot 2 conveys the workpiece 90 to the carryingtable 92 as shown by the arrow 102. The second robot 2 adjusts theorientation of the workpiece 90 and places it on the carrying table 92so that the orientation of the workpiece 90 becomes predetermineddirection. In the present embodiment, the workpiece 90 is aligned sothat the longitudinal directions of the workpiece 90 become parallel toa predetermined direction.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a workpiece feed system in the presentembodiment. The workpiece feed system 10 includes a control apparatusfor controlling the first robot 1, second robot 2, magnet holder 3, hand4, and temporary placement device 21. The control apparatus of thepresent embodiment includes a first control apparatus 5 controlling thefirst robot 1 and magnet holder 3 and a second control apparatus 6controlling the second robot 2, hand 4, and temporary placement device21. These control apparatuses are comprised of arithmetic processingdevices having components connected with each other through a bus suchas a CPU (central processing unit), RAM (random access memory), and ROM(read only memory).

The first control apparatus 5 stores in advance operating programsrelating to the operations of the first robot 1 and magnet holder 3. Thefirst control apparatus 5 includes a first operation control part 51controlling the operations of the first robot 1 and magnet holder 3. Thefirst operation control part 51 uses the operating programs as the basisto drive the first robot 1 and magnet holder 3. The second controlapparatus 6 stores in advance operating programs relating to theoperations of the second robot 2, the temporary placement device 21, andhand 4. The second control apparatus 6 includes a second operationcontrol part. 61 controlling the operations of the second robot 2 andhand 4 and a temporary placement device operation control part 63controlling the operation of the temporary placement device 21. Thesecond operation control part 61 uses the operating programs as thebasis to drive the second robot 2 and hand 4. The temporary placementdevice operation control part 63 uses the operating programs as thebasis to drive the temporary placement device 21.

The workpiece feed system 10 is provided with a communication devicecommunicating between the first control apparatus 5 and the secondcontrol apparatus 6. The first control apparatus 5 and second controlapparatus 6 are connected to a communication line 65 and are formed tobe able to be connected with each other.

Note that, the control apparatus can employ any constitution enablingcontrol of the workpiece feed system. For example, a third controlapparatus may be arranged for control of the temporary placement device21, and the third control apparatus may be connected to the firstcontrol apparatus and second control apparatus through a communicationdevice.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the workpiece feed system 10 is providedwith a first imaging device detecting positions and postures ofworkpieces 90 stacked on the pallet 91. The first imaging device 7 isarranged above the center part when viewing the pallet 91 by a planview. The first imaging device 7 is supported by a frame 72. The firstimaging device 7 is arranged above the first robot 1. The first imagingdevice 7 of the present embodiment is a three-dimensional measuringdevice. The range of measurement of the first imaging device 7 is set soas to be able to capture images of all of the workpieces 90 stacked onthe pallet 91.

As the three-dimensional measuring device, various non-contact types canbe used. For example, a stereo type using two cameras, a type scanningby laser slit light, a type scanning by laser spot light, a typeprojecting patterns of light on a workpiece using a projector or otherdevice, or other three-dimensional measuring devices can be used.

The first control apparatus 5 includes a first image processing part 52processing the image captured by the first imaging device 7. The firstimage processing part 52 detects the exposed surfaces of workpieces 90in the workpieces 90 stacked on the pallet to acquire positioninformation of a plurality of three-dimensional points. That is, itacquires the positions and postures of the workpieces. The first imageprocessing part 52 selects a workpiece 90 to be taken out. The firstimage processing part 52 sets the position and posture of the magnetholder 3 to be able to grip the workpiece 90. The first operationcontrol part 51 controls the first robot 1 so that the magnet holder 3becomes the set position and posture. Further, the magnet holder 3 gripsthe workpiece 90. After that, the first robot 1 conveys the workpiece 90to the temporary placement device 21.

In the present embodiment, the magnet holder 3 is used to grip aworkpiece 90. In this case, the workpiece 90 is held by the magnetholder 3 in various orientations. The magnet holder 3 not only picks upthe workpiece 90 at the surface with the greatest area, but alsosometimes picks up an end face. Alternatively, a plurality of workpieces90 are sometimes picked up at one time by the magnet holder 3. In thepresent embodiment, the temporary placement device 21 adjusts theorientation of the workpiece 90 so that the longitudinal directionbecomes parallel to the horizontal direction.

The workpiece feed system 10 is provided with a second imaging device 8for detecting the position and orientation of the workpiece 90 placed atthe temporary placement device 21. The second imaging device 8 isarranged above the center part of the carrying member 23 when viewingthe temporary placement device 21 by a plan view. The second imagingdevice 8 is supported by a frame 82. The second imaging device 8 isarranged above the second robot 2.

The second imaging device 8 of the present embodiment is atwo-dimensional measuring device. As the two-dimensional measuringdevice, it is possible to employ a non-contact type camera. The secondimaging device 8 captures the image of the workpiece 90 placed at thetemporary placement device 21. The second. Imaging device 8 is arrangedat a position able to capture the image of the workpiece 90 placed atthe temporary placement device 21. The second control apparatus 6includes a second image processing part 62 processing the image capturedby the second imaging device 8.

The second image processing part 62 acquires the contours of the surfaceof the workpiece 90. The second image processing part 62 detects theposition and posture of the workpiece 90. The second operation controlpart 61 uses the detected position and posture of the workpiece 90 asthe basis to control the position and posture of the second robot sothat the hand 4 can grip the workpiece 90. The hand 4 is controlled inposition and posture so as to correspond to the shape of workpiece 90.Further, the hand. 4 can grip the workpiece 90.

Next, the second robot 2 conveys the workplace 90 to the carrying table92. At this time, it changes the orientation of the workpiece 90 so thatthe orientation of the workpiece 90 becomes a predetermined direction.At the carrying table 92, the workpiece 90 is arranged in a state withthe orientation of the workpiece 90 aligned. For example, workpieces 90are arranged at the carrying table 92 so that the longitudinaldirections of the workplaces 90 become parallel to each other.

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of a first temporary placement device inthe present embodiment. FIG. 4 shows a schematic partial cross-sectionalview of a first temporary placement device in the present embodiment.FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view along the line A-A in FIG. 3.The first temporary placement device 21 is provided with a frame member22 and a carrying member 23 arranged on the top surface of the framemember 22. The workpiece 90 is arranged at the carrying surface 23 a ofthe to surface of the carrying member 23. The carrying member 23 isformed into a sheet shape. At the first temporary placement device 21,the carrying member 23 is formed by elastically deforming fluororubber.The carrying member 23 is fastened at its outer circumferential partwith the frame member 22.

The temporary placement device 21 is provided with a drive devicearranged at the opposite side to the carrying surface 23 a and drivingthe carrying member 23. The drive device is controlled by the temporaryplacement device operation control part 63. The drive device includes aconnecting member 26 as the moving part moving in the up-down directionand an air cylinder 24 moving the connecting member 26. The connectingmember 26 of the present embodiment is formed into a disk shape. Theconnecting member 26 is fastened at the surface at the opposite side tothe carrying surface 23 a of the carrying member 23. The connectingmember 26 is fastened to the center part when viewing the carryingmember 23 from a plan view. The connecting member 26 is fastened to ashaft 23 a of an air cylinder 24.

FIG. 5 shows another schematic partial cross-sectional view of a firsttemporary placement device in the present embodiment. Referring to FIG.4 and FIG. 5, the temporary placement device operation control part 63drives the air cylinder 24 to move the connecting member 26 in theup-down direction. FIG. 4 shows the state where the connecting member 26moves downward as shown by the arrow 103 and is arranged at the bottomend position. The carrying member 23 is pulled by the connecting member26. The carrying member 23 elastically deforms and become recessed atits center part. FIG. 5 shows the state where the connecting member 26moves upward as shown by the arrow 104 and is arranged at the top endposition. The carrying surface 23 a of the carrying member 23 becomes aflat shape. In this way, the connecting member 26 can move back andforth between the top end position and bottom end position. The carryingmember 23 deforms along with movement of the connecting member 26.

Referring to FIG. 4, the temporary placement device operation controlpart 63 makes it so that the connecting member 26 is arranged at thebottom end position when the first robot 1 conveys a workpiece 90 to thetemporary placement device 21. When the magnet holder 3 releases theworkpiece 90 and places the workpiece 90 at the carrying surface 23 a,the longitudinal direction of the workpiece 90 sometime becomes parallelto the vertical direction. Here, the carrying surface 23 a is slantedabout the connecting member 26. For this reason, the workpiece 90 islaid flat as shown by the arrow 105. Further, the workpiece 90 slidestoward the center part of the carrying member 23 as shown by the arrow106.

Referring to FIG. 5, after that, the temporary placement deviceoperation control part 63 drives the air cylinder 24 and, moves theconnecting member 26 to the top end position as shown by the arrow 104.The carrying surface 23 a of the carrying member 23 becomes flat. Thelongitudinal direction of the workpiece 90 shown by the arrow 108 can bemade a state parallel to the horizontal direction.

By placing the workpiece 90 at the carrying member 23 in a state withthe center part recessed and then performing control to return thecarrying surface 23 a to a flat state in this way, it is possible tochange the orientation of the workpiece 90 in the state with thelongitudinal direction of the workpiece 90 becoming parallel to thehorizontal direction. Further, it is possible to make the workpiece 90move toward the center part of the carrying member 23, so the workpiece90 can be arranged at the inside of the range of measurement of thesecond imaging device 8. The workpiece 90 can be kept from deviatingfrom the measurement range of the second imaging device 8.

In this way, the temporary placement device 21 in the present embodimentcan lay flat a workpiece 90 even if the workpiece 90 is placed on thecarrying member 23 in a state standing up and can orient the workpiece90 toward a predetermined direction. Further, even if the workpiece 90is placed on the carrying member 23 in a state with its longitudinaldirection slanted with respect to the vertical direction, the workpiece90 can be similarly laid flat. When making the carrying surface 23 aflat, the longitudinal direction of the workpiece 90 can be madeparallel to the horizontal direction.

Further, even when using the first robot 1 to convey a plurality ofworkpieces 90, it is possible to lay flat the workpieces 90. Further, itis possible to gather the workpieces 90 at the center part of thecarrying member 23 and place a plurality of workpieces 90 in the rangeof capture of the second imaging device.

The carrying member 23 in the present embodiment is comprised of asheet-shaped elastic member. By employing this constitution, when movingthe connecting member to the bottom end position, the center part of thecarrying member 23 can be made recessed. Further, it is possible to formslanted surfaces around the center part. For this reason, at is possibleto easily gather workpieces 90 at the center part of the carrying member23.

As the sheet-shaped elastic member, one made of a fluororubber ispreferable. A fluororubber is smooth at its surface, so a workpiece 90can easily move on the carrying surface 23 a. For this reason, theworkpiece 90 easily moves to the center part. Furthermore, when usingthe first robot 1 to drop a workpiece 90 on the carrying member 23, itis possible to suppress the dropping noise of the workpiece 90. Further,a fluororubber is excellent in abrasion resistance, so can be used overa long period of time. Note that, the sheet-shaped elastic member is notlimited to a fluororubber. Any material can be employed.

FIG. 6 shows a flow chart of control of a workpiece feed system in thepresent embodiment. First, at step 201, the first imaging device 7 isused to capture an image of workpieces 90 stacked on a pallet 91. Atstep 202, the first image processing part 52 selects a workpiece to betaken out. Further, the first image processing part 52 detects theposition and posture of the workpiece.

Next, at step 203, the first robot 1 moves the magnet holder 3 to aposition where it can grip the workpiece 90. The magnet holder 3 gripsthe workpiece 90. At step 204, the first robot 1 moves the workpiece 90to above the temporary placement device 21. In the present embodiment,the first robot 1 moves the workpiece 90 to above the center part of thecarrying member 23.

At step 205, the temporary placement device operation control part 63drives the carrying member 23 to make the carrying surface 23 a recessedin state. That is, the air cylinder 24 moves the connecting member 26 tothe bottom end position.

At step 206, the magnet holder 3 releases the workplace 90. Theworkpiece 90 is placed on the carrying surface 23 a. In the presentembodiment, the magnet holder 3 releases the workpiece 90 at a positiona predetermined distance away from the carrying member 23. That is,control is performed to drop the workpiece 90 toward the carrying member23. The workpiece 90 is laid flat by gravity when placed on the carryingmember 23 in a standing state. Further, the workpiece 90 moves towardthe center part when placed at a position of the carrying member 23 awayfrom the center part. The first robot 1 releases the workpiece 90, thenretracts from above the temporary placement device 21.

Note that, as the control for placing a workpiece 90 at the carryingsurface 23 a, it is also possible to use the first robot 1 to convey aworkpiece 90 to a position where the workpiece 90 contacts the carryingsurface 23 a, then release the workplace 90.

After that, at step 207, the temporary placement device 21 returns thecarrying surface 23 a to a flat state. That is, the air cylinder 24moves the connecting member 26 to the top end position. The workpiece 90becomes parallel to the horizontal, direction in its longitudinaldirection.

Next, at step 208, the second imaging device 8 is used to capture animage of the workplace 90. At step 209, the second image processing part62 uses the image captured by the second imaging device 8 to judgewhether or not the shape of the workpiece can be detected. That is, thesecond image processing part 62 judges whether or not it is possible todetect the position and orientation of the workpiece 90.

The second image processing part 62, for example, compares a modelpattern stored in advance with the captured contour of the workpiece 90.Further, when the model pattern and the contour of the workpiece of theimage do not match, it is judged that the shape of the workplace cannotbe detected. For example, when the workpiece 90 stands up, the secondimaging device 8 captures the image of the end face of the workpiece 90.This image differs from the model pattern of the shape of the sidesurface of the workpiece 90, so the second image processing part 62judges that it is not possible to detect the shape of the workpiece.

At step 209, when the second image processing part. 62 cannot detect theshape of the workpiece 90, the routine proceeds to step 210. At step210, the temporary placement device operation control part 63 againdrives the carrying member 23. In the present embodiment, control isperformed to make the carrying surface 23 a a recessed state, thenreturn it to a flat state. That is, the air cylinder 24 is returned tothe top end position after moving the connecting member 26 to the bottomend position. By performing this control, if the workpiece 90 isstanding up at the time when the carrying surface 23 a is flat, it ispossible to lay flat the workpiece 90. That is, it is possible to adjustthe orientation of the workpiece 90 so that the longitudinal directionof the workpiece 90 becomes parallel to the horizontal direction whenthe carrying surface 23 a becomes flat.

The driving operation of the carrying member 23 of step 210 is notlimited to the above. It is also possible to repeat control for makingthe carrying surface 23 a recessed and control for returning it to aflat state several times. Note that when it is not possible to detectthe shape of a workpiece even if driving the carrying member apredetermined number of times, it is possible to perform control to stopthe workpiece feed system. Alternatively, it is possible to performcontrol to use the first robot or the second robot to remove theworkpiece from the temporary placement device.

When at step 209 the second image processing part 62 can detect theshape of the workpiece 90, the second image processing part 62 detectsthe position and orientation of the workpiece 90. Further, the routineproceeds to step 211.

At step 211, the second robot 2 moves the hand 4 based on the positionand orientation of the workpiece. Further, the hand 4 holds theworkpiece 90. At step 212, the second robot 2 conveys the workpiece 90to a predetermined position of the carrying table 92. At that time, thesecond robot 2 adjusts the orientation of the workpiece 90 so that theorientation of the workpiece 90 becomes a predetermined orientation.Further, at step 213, the hand 4 releases the workpiece 90. Theworkpiece 90 is placed on the carrying table 92 by a desiredorientation.

In this way, the workpiece feed system of the present embodiment takesout a bulk stacked workpiece and arranges it at a predetermined positionin the state adjusting the orientation of the workpiece.

FIG. 7 shows a perspective view of the second temporary placement devicein the present embodiment. FIG. 8 shows a schematic partialcross-sectional view of the second temporary placement device in thepresent embodiment. FIG. 8 is a partial cross-sectional view along theline B-B of FIG. 7.

Referring to FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, the second temporary placement device 31includes a carrying member 33 on which a workpiece 90 is placed. Thecarrying member 33 includes two plate-shape members 33 a and a hinge 33b connected to the two plate-shape members 33 a. The plate-shape members33 a in the present embodiment are flat plates. The two plate-shapemembers 33 a are arranged so that their end parts face each other. Oneof the end parts of the plate-shape member 33 a is fastened to a hinge33 b. Further, at the side surface of the other end part of theplate-shape member 33 a, a support part 33 c is formed. The support part33 c is formed so as to project from the side surface. The support part33 c is formed in a columnar shape.

The second temporary placement device 31 includes a frame member 32 anda top plate 34 arranged at the top surface of the frame member 32. Atthe top plate 34, an opening part 34 a is formed. The opening part 34 ais formed to enable part of the plate-shape member 33 a to be inserted.At the end part of the top plate 34, a guide member 35 is arranged. Theguide member 35 is arranged so as to support the support part. 33 c ofthe carrying member 33. The guide member 35 has a shape by which thesupport part 33 c moves inside in the horizontal direction as shown bythe arrow 107.

The drive device driving the carrying member 33 includes a pushingmember 44. The pushing member 44 is arranged at an opposite side to thecarrying surface 33 d of the plate-shape member 33 a. The pushing member44 supports the end parts of the two plate-shape members 33 a so thatthey face each other. The pushing member 44 is arranged at thesubstantial center part when viewing the carrying member 33 by a planview. The pushing member 44 functions as the moving part connected tothe center part of the carrying member 33 and moving in the up-downdirection.

The drive device of the second temporary placement device 31 uses aball-screw mechanism to move the pushing member 44. The pushing member44 moves between the top end position and the bottom end position. Thedrive device driving the carrying member 33 includes a servo motor 38.The servo motor 38 is controlled by the temporary placement deviceoperation control part 63. The output shaft 38 a of the servo motor 38is connected with the ball screw 40 through the coupling 39. The ballscrew 40 is engaged with a nut 41. The slide member 42 is fastened tothe nut 41.

The guide member 43 is fastened to the bottom plate of the frame member32. The end part of the slide member 42 is inserted in the recessedpart. 43 a formed at the guide member 43. The slide member 42 movesalong the direction of extension of the recessed part 43 a. At the slidemember 42, the pushing member 44 is fastened.

FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 show the state when the pushing member 44 moves to thebottom end position as shown by the arrow 103. The carrying surface 33 dof the carrying member 33 is shaped recessed at the center part. Whencutting the two plate-shape members 33 a along the aligned direction,the carrying member 33 is bent so that the cross-sectional shape becomesa V-shape.

The temporary placement device operation control part 63 drives theservo motor 38 to make the nut 41 rise, whereby the slide member 42 andpushing member 44 rise. The pushing member 44 pushes the end parts wherethe two plate-shape members 33 a face each other to move upward wherebythe end parts of the two plate-shape members 33 a move upward. Thesupport part 33 c of the carrying member 33 moves inside the guidemember 35 toward the outside. Further, when the pushing member 44reaches the top end position, the carrying surface 33 d of the carryingmember 33 becomes flat.

In the second temporary placement device 31 as well, it is possible todrive the carrying member 33 to switch between the state where thecenter part of the carrying surface 33 d becomes recessed and the statewhere the carrying surface 33 d becomes flat. In the second temporaryplacement device 31 as well, in the same way as the first temporaryplacement device 21, it is possible to lay flat a standing workpiece 90by placing the workpiece 90 in the state with the carrying surface 33 dat a slant. When the carrying surface 33 d becomes flat, it is possibleto adjust the orientation of the workpiece 90 so that the longitudinaldirection becomes parallel to the horizontal direction. Further, theworkpiece 90 can be made to move toward the center part. After that, itis possible to make the carrying surface 33 d flat in state and use thesecond imaging device 8 to capture an image of the workpiece 90.

In this way, the carrying member may also be formed to be deformable byusing a plurality of plate-shape members. Further, the carrying memberis not limited to the above embodiments and may also be formed to bedeformable so that the carrying surface is recessed downward. Further,as the drive device for driving the carrying member, it is possible toemploy any drive source other than the air cylinder or servo motor.Further, when using a servo motor, the mechanism for making the movingpart move is not limited to a ball-screw mechanism. Any mechanism may beemployed. For example, as the mechanism for making the moving part move,a rack and pinion mechanism etc. may be employed.

According to the present invention, there is provided a temporaryplacement device able to adjust the orientation of the workpiece.

In the control of the embodiments, the order of the steps can besuitably changed in a range where the functions and actions are notchanged. Further, the above embodiments can be suitably combined.

In the above figures, the same or equivalent parts are assigned the samereference notations. Note that, the above embodiments are illustrativeand do not limit the invention. Further, in the embodiments, changes inthe embodiments shown in the claims are included.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A workpiece feed system, comprising: afirst robot conveying a workpiece; a second robot conveying theworkpiece; a temporary placement device adjusting an orientation of theworkpiece; a control apparatus controlling the first robot, the secondrobot, and the temporary placement device; wherein the temporaryplacement device includes: a carrying member having a carrying surfaceon which a workpiece is placed; and a drive device arranged below thecarrying surface and driving the carrying member, wherein the carryingmember is formed to be able to be deformed, the drive device includes amoving part being connected to a center location of the carrying surfacebelow the carrying surface and moving in an up-down direction and movesthe moving part between a top end position where the center location ofthe carrying surface is pushed to a flat state and a bottom end positionwhere the center location of the carrying surface is positioned to arecessed state, and the control apparatus performs a control in whichthe first robot releases the workpiece so as to place the workpiece onthe carrying member when the moving part is in the bottom end portion,and a control in which the second robot picks up the workpiece arrangedon the carrying member when the moving part is in the top end positionafter moving from the bottom end position to the top end position. 2.The workpiece feed system according to claim 1, wherein the drive deviceincludes an air cylinder moving the moving part.
 3. The workpiece feedsystem according to claim 1, wherein the drive device includes a servomotor moving the moving part.
 4. The workpiece feed system according toclaim 1, wherein the carrying member is configured by a flexible elasticmember.
 5. The workpiece feed system according to claim 4, wherein thecarrying member is made of a fluororubber.
 6. The workpiece feed systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the carrying member includes two platemembers, the two plate members are connected by a hinge so that the endparts face each other, and, when the moving part is arranged at thebottom end position, the carrying member is bent so that thecross-sectional shape along the direction where the two plate membersare arranged becomes a V-shape.